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Start internally when planning for refractive surgery success
After careful study you have decided that you would like to comanage more refractive surgery patients. You have based this upon your enjoyment of working with these patients and an analysis of your practice indicating that comanagement represents a profit center opportunity. Now, how do you go about increasing your refractive surgery volume?
Start internally
Communicate your plan of action to your staff. It is critical that everyone in your organization understand how you want to approach these patients. Potential refractive surgery patients are notoriously nervous. It generally takes a significant amount of counseling, evaluation and explanation to prepare these patients for surgery.
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However, they can be dissuaded from surgery (or convinced that they want the surgery through a different office) by a venerable plethora of seemingly inconsequential events. They will often ask the same – or similar – questions to several individuals on your staff.
A lack of knowledge by any staff members will be construed negatively by the patient. Contradictory answers among staff members will almost certainly convince the patient they should seek their care elsewhere.
You, the doctor, may have a wealth of knowledge about refractive surgery and can confidently answer patients’ questions; however your staff may not be prepared. Unless you, or the center/surgeon you work with, have provided sufficient training for your staff, they will certainly not be comfortable answering questions. Or worse, they will provide incorrect information.
You may have staff members that are negative toward refractive surgery and have no qualms with informing patients, “I would never consider LASIK … refractive surgery … letting someone operate on my eyes.” Having a refractive surgery counselor or instructing your staff to tell patients “the doctor will answer that for you” has merit, but if the majority of your staff cannot/will not discuss refractive surgery with patients it will reflect negatively upon your practice. Staff members typically spend much more time with patients than the doctor.
Routinely avoiding patient questions is only marginally better than poorly answering their questions. I recommend you initiate and enforce phone scripts in your office. As the doctor, you should decide how you want to answer common refractive surgery questions, commit those to paper and train your staff until they can confidently project your refractive surgery philosophy to patients. Most refractive surgery centers will be delighted to help you with this endeavor.
Promote your expertise
Once you have your internal house in order, you and your staff will be ready to promote your refractive surgery expertise to patients. The next question is: Where do you find potential refractive surgery patients?
The most cost effective place to find these patients is within your current patient base. These patients already know and trust you. They just need to be informed, or reminded that you and your office are ready to help them with their refractive surgery decisions.
A tremendous number of potential refractive surgery patients exist in your practice. According to a study conducted by Pacific Laser Eye Centers, 16.7% of patients in a typical optometric office are interested/very interested in refractive surgery.
In addition to assuming that your patients are not interested in refractive surgery (they did not ask me so they must not be interested), the other fatal mistake is to assume that your patient base will automatically seek you out to be their source for refractive surgery information.
Your patients are being exposed to incessant marketing of refractive surgery via print, radio, television and Internet 365 days a year. Many of these ads reduce their message to price and easy financing. This tends to turn the procedure into a commodity and encourages patients to go directly to the laser center without consulting their family eye doctor.
How do you counter this message without spending hundreds of thousands of dollars in your own ad campaign? You must leverage your personal relationship with your patients. They know you and they trust you, but they may not know you are an expert in refractive surgery. They do not know because you have not told them – or you have not told them enough that it counters the non-stop direct marketing to which they are exposed.
How to attract current patients
Every time a patient visits your office, calls your office or is communicated with by your office, you have an opportunity to educate them about your services and expertise – in this case, refractive surgery comanagement. When a patient calls your office to make an appointment for an exam you should instruct your staff to respond, “will that exam be for glasses, contact lenses or refractive surgery?” It only takes a moment of staff time and it effectively promotes your practice scope.
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When patients arrive at your office they should see the posters, pamphlets and brochures you have prominently displayed in your waiting room and exam rooms with a refractive surgery message. Your patient intake form should ask the simple question: “Would you like more information about refractive surgery?” You should mention to all candidates, eventual candidates and relatives/friends of candidates your availability to answer their refractive surgery questions.
Patient recall is another opportunity to educate your patients concerning your interest in and knowledge of refractive surgery. A simple “Is this your year for LASIK?” message inserted into the recall postcard is effective.
You can also send a more detailed refractive surgery message to your complete patient base in the form of an announcement letter or postcard. You could be announcing your affiliation with a specific laser center/surgeon, introducing your laser vision correction coordinator, describing new technology at your office or the referral center, or why you feel now is the best time to consider refractive surgery. You can also include a call to action such as a seminar at your office. The point is to communicate with your patient base and remind them of your expertise in all things refractive. Then, it is hoped that when they decide to pursue refractive surgery, they will contact you.
Currently you are being out-gunned. LASIK centers are aggressively pursuing your patients. These centers are spending a tremendous amount of money to remain in the face of your patients 365 days a year. Once they make contact with your patients, only certain centers will turn around and try to convince your patients of the benefits of comanagement.
Your greatest weapon in this battle for the hearts, minds and pocketbooks of your patients is your personal relationship with them. However, if you want to retain these patients, you have to aggressively remind them of your knowledge of refractive surgery and your commitment to looking out for their best interest and you have to make it easy for them to work with you.
Once you have your internal house in order and have effectively communicated your refractive surgery expertise to your patient base then, and only then, should you consider external marketing.
For more information:
- Jimmy Jackson, MS, OD, FAAO, is president of InSight LASIK. He can be reached at 1120 W. South Boulder Road, Suite 102, Lafayette, CO 80026; (303) 665-7577; fax: (303) 665-3633; e-mail: jimmy@insightlasik.com.